We turn around and there was Spiderman, clinging to the side of a building. This was actually set up for families to pose with Spiderman, some looking or leaning through windows or standing on the ledge below our superhero. Worker bees were taking the photos — I did not ask but I assume they were charging for the photos — seems like they are always looking for every way to make an extra buck.

Then there was Iron Man, having just landed ready to confront the latest villain. Go Tony Stark — you got some great tools (or is it toys) for fighting evil in the world.

But don't forget our past heroes like Indiana Jones — here cracking his whip and watching out for snakes. (Remember, "Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?")

In a large glass case they had a city center complete with tall buildings, airborne vehicles, villains and heroes everywhere. Amazing creativity.

In another area there was a huge hill composed completely of loose LEGO blocks. Kids (and their parents) could sit here and construct whatever their young imaginations could come up with. At least the young ones looked like they were having fun.

In another area, raceways had been set up together with stations for making racecars. Johnny decided to build up rather than long, lean and mean. Funny thing was that he won his race because his heavy car stayed on course while the others hit the sides and stopped.
It broke up when it hit the wall at the bottom — oh well, back to the drawing board.

Nearby was a LEGO map of the USA with LEGO buildings rising in each state. Just to get your bearing, the tall palm tree structure near the right edge is the tip of Texas and the peninsula beyond is Florida. Thus the island in the foreground must be Hawai‘i — the Big Island — because the smaller islands were also there but out of camera range. Funny, in reality the Big Island is covered with volcanoes and black sand beaches plus a few (relatively speaking) multi-story resorts. I guess we are now in an alternate reality — LEGO world geography.

To celebrate the fact that this Kids Fest was being held in the same stadium which is home to the Arizona Cardinals, the modelers of LEGO constructed a Cardinals helmet plus football. Interesting.

The inflated Cardinal was not made of LEGO blocks — but he is here for every home Cardinals game and I guess he did not want to miss the fun.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were also represented by a pitching range for aspiring baseball players. Each young pitcher received about three opportunities to hit the center of the catcher's mitt. This kid looks like he has real potential — he barely missed on the high side.

Right next door, the Phoenix Coyotes had their slap shot range set up. This tiny player was a bit young so Dad had to help him (or was it her) try to get the ball (instead of puck) past the goalie.

Saving the best for last, Johnny found this inflated slide — climb up in the middle (to the right in this picture) then slide down either the right or left slide. It was so much fun he had to repeat the journey. Unfortunately, time for only one more trip up and down — our session was coming to an end and the workers were coaxing kids and grownups toward the exit so the stadium could set up again for the afternoon session. I think you can tell by the smile on Johnny's face how much he enjoyed himself.